After leaving the big city following the tragic death of his fiance, Jeremy Pendelton aimlessly motors south, ending up in False River, a small town in Louisiana. He takes a room in the Come On Inn, a room where John Flannery was recently found dead in his bed. Jeremy is soon befriended by a reporter for the town's newspaper who suspects foul play in Flannery's death and seeks Jeremy's assistance as an inside man in discovering the truth. The residents of the Inn are an odd group of characters, except for Polly. Their mutual love of literature draw Polly and Jeremy into a close relationship.

Jeremy and his reporter friend, Todd, set out to find the cause of Flannery's death and, if it was a homicide, the one who caused it. In the process, they become aware of the criminal activiies of the town's Chief of Police. In attempting to disrupt those activities, Jeremy's life is put in danger.